Joy is important to God. Jesus stated that our joy was one of His primary goals of His earthly ministry.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly…These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full (John 10:10; 15:11).
This joy isn’t necessarily happiness, although the two aren’t mutually exclusive. The joy Jesus came to give us was one that sprung from the fullness of knowing, loving, and experiencing God rather than our circumstantial experiences.
In Hebrew, there are lots of words for joy! The most commonly used word is שִׂמְחָה simchah and is translated to joy, gladness, mirth, rejoice, and pleasure. The word for joy in our passage from Psalms is שָׂשׂוֹן sason and is most commonly translated as joy/rejoice, but also exultation and gladness (Olive Tree Bible Software. Englishman’s Concordance).
Another place where this same word for joy is used is in Isaiah.
Therefore you will joyously draw water. From the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted” (Isaiah 12:3-4).
The Joy of Salvation in Context
Both contexts of the word pertain to salvation. And again, in Esther, the word is used when describing how the people felt when God provided deliverance through the bravery and anointing of Esther.
For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday (Esther 8:16-17).
Both of these additional uses tie the word to salvation. But it isn’t only used in this context. One defining characteristic of this joy is the energy behind it.
This joy isn’t a resolve to praise God in hard times or a joy that comes from inner peace. It’s a joy that bursts with emotional energy. A joy that includes celebration, testimony, and praising God aloud. It is a joy that can’t be hidden!
So, how do we kindle a fresh kind of joy in our hearts?
For David, this joy came when he confessed his sin with Bathsheba and found God’s cleansing forgiveness. For the people in the Book of Esther, it was when God provided deliverance for them.
For the prophesied time in Isaiah, a remnant of God’s people was spared from destruction and trusted in God alone for their salvation.
For us, this joy can be restored when we meditate on the ways and times God has saved us. It can be kindled when we take a good, hard look at the ways we still have yet to experience His sanctification in our lives because of the ways we continue to fall short. It can be refreshed in our hearts when we retell our testimony.
If you desire this kind of joy in your life and feel it has been missing, try following the pattern left for us:
1. Ask God to Show You the Sin in Your Heart
Just as David prayed, reword his words into your own kind of prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:23-24).
I knew a woman once who said communion made her feel just awful because during the private moment of prayer and confession before taking the elements, she always had to lie to God because she didn’t ever have anything to confess because she didn’t sin.
I haven’t ever had that particular difficulty, and it wasn’t true for her either. I am quite certain of my propensity for sin. But I still regularly ask God to reveal the hidden sinful attitudes and feelings I am not aware of, etc.
There are few things more humbling than those moments when you come face to face with the reality that even in your moments of best and brightest efforts, your best is still dirty rags compared to God’s glory.
Regularly asking God to show me my missteps keeps that connection to the gift of salvation keenly fresh in my heart.
2. Confess Your Heart to God
Another Bible passage we can reword into our own prayer is:
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin (Psalm 51:1-2).
An important part of confessing our sins to the Lord is fully believing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If we confess without the faith that we are forgiven, our hearts will lack the healing God intends for us.
Confession needs faith in it for the confession to effect healing and change. In order to find freedom, we need to live in peace. We must believe that God forgives us, no longer counts our sins against us, and does not define us by them.
David knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God forgave his sin. When concealing his sin, David said, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin” (Psalms 38:3). Yet God’s forgiveness healed his broken heart and restored David.
If we want that clean-slate restoration like David experienced, an important yet sometimes overlooked ingredient is trusting that God’s promise to forgive is true.
When we put our hope in God alone for salvation, that isn’t just a passage on a Bible page or song lyrics.
It is a belief, a conviction. An unshakable confidence in God’s Word and character. Without this confident belief, confession and forgiveness are emptied of their power.
3. Share Your Story
The joy the Israelites felt in Esther when they were delivered was packaged into a holiday tradition so they would always tell the next generation of God’s gracious rescue and provision.
As David sought God’s renewal, He said:
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise (Psalm 51:13-15).
David knew that a testimony of praise follows the restoration of relationship with God.
In the earlier quoted Isaiah passage, the remnant is instructed to “make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Salvation flows into the sharing of God’s work like water flows over rocks in a waterfall.
Peter and the apostles were arrested for preaching about Christ, and when they were severely beaten as punishment, their testimony was one of joy!
The Council had planned to kill them but was convinced not to put them to death. The apostles’ lives were spared, their souls saved from sin, and they considered themselves blessed to share in Christ’s sufferings.
So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ (Acts 5:41-42).
In Revelation, we are told two things: defeat the enemy — the blood of Christ and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Our testimonies have power in them. Power to heal. Power to bring joy. Power to overcome. We were meant to share them with excited joy!
You might find joy rekindled recounting God’s first saving work in your life. I often find the most joy in encouraging other believers in the “in between,” where salvation has already happened, but the faith journey gets confusing or weary.
Regardless of whether God opens a door for us to share a life-saving testimony, soul-saving testimony, or an along-the-way story of His faithfulness to us, sharing our experiences with God refreshes our joy! So be ready in your heart to share your story of God’s grace and goodness over you!
For further reading:
What Does it Mean That God Is the Rock of Salvation?
How Does Joy Come in the Morning?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Delmaine Donson
April Motl is a pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and women’s ministry director. When she’s not waist-deep in the joys and jobs of motherhood, being a wife, and serving at church, she writes and teaches for women. You can find more encouraging resources from April here and here.
